French street artist JR's monumental works

The Louvre

The French photographic artist, only known by his initials JR, has made a career of showcasing his work in the most public of public spaces around the world. For more than 10 years, his monumental photos have appeared everywhere from favelas in Brazil to New York City's Times Square to walls in the Middle East. JR recently set his sights on the "biggest museum in the world," the Louvre in Paris, and its symbolic glass Pyramid, transforming it with a surprising optical illusion art installation. The work "JR at the Louvre" will run from May 25 to June 27, 2016.

JR's canvases are the world's building facades, bridges, rooftops and other urban spaces, with the goal of bringing art to the masses -- to those not normally confronted by it or given a voice through it. He combines his photography with strong social statements.

Though his work has often been illegally put on display, his art has also been embraced officially in his home city of Paris and elsewhere.

Here's a look at JR's latest work in Paris and others he has created.

In this photo, the Louvre Pyramid is in the process of being covered with a giant photographic collage of the museum palace, May 19, 2016.

Credit: Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images

JR at the Louvre

Workers cover the Louvre's glass tiled Pyramid with a collosal photograph of the museum's palace building by French artist and photographer JR in Paris, May 24, 2016.

JR's new installation covers one side of the iconic I.M. Pei-designed Pyramid in an anamorphic image.

Credit: Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images

JR at the Louvre

Part of the large-scale photographic collage that will cover one side of the Louvre Pyramid, May 19, 2016.

If seen from a certain vantage point the image entirely obscures the glass facade and aligns with the actual 16th century architecture behind the pyramid.

Credit: Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images

JR at the Louvre

People walk in front of the Louvre Pyramid covered with a giant photographic collage by JR on May 19, 2016 in Paris.

The artist was invited by the Louvre, the largest museum in the world, to transform the Pyramid.

Credit: Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images

French artist JR at the Pantheon

Portraits by contemporary artist JR, collected during the month of March 2014, are displayed on the worksite boarding placed around the dome of the Pantheon during its renovation in Paris, May 21, 2014. The installation depicts the diversity of the contemporary world.

JR, born in 1983, started his career as the graffiti artist Face 3. With his discovery of photography his art took new forms. His first major photographic project was photographing the 2004 riots in the Paris suburbs, known as the banlieues, and posting large prints of the people involved around Paris.

Credit: Christian Hartmann/Reuters

French artist JR

Portraits by contemporary artist JR, collected during the month of March 2014, are displayed under the dome of the Pantheon in Paris on May 7, 2015.

Credit: Benoit Tessier/Reuters

French artist JR

Artist JR poses with his public art installation "Actions" on the Terrace at Somerset House in London October 7, 2013.

The art installation includes a photobooth, where the public can get their photos taken and printed onto poster paper, which are immediately posted onto the surrounding walls and pavement.

Credit: Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters

French artist JR

A giant upside down portrait made of paper strips covers the facade of the French National Library (BNF) in Paris as part of a temporary exhibition by street artist JR, November 8, 2013.

Credit: Charles Platiau/Reuters

French artist JR

On November 30, 2015, images of more than 500 people are projected onto the facade of the French National Assembly building during the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris.

The "Standing March" is the collaborative work by JR and American filmmaker Darren Aronofsky.

Credit: Eric Feferberg/AFP/Getty Images

French artist JR

Photographs composed by the French street artist JR are plastered on a wall as part of a community project called "Through A Mother's Eyes," which involves self-portraits of members of the economically distressed neighborhood of Hunts Point in the Bronx on June 30, 2011 in New York City.

JR, who won a TED prize in 2011, has staged many similar projects around the world that look to transform high crime and impoverished neighborhoods into spaces for street art combined with the celebration of community.

Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

"Women Are Heroes" by JR

Giant photographs of women cover the walls of homes in favela Providencia in Rio de Janeiro, August 25, 2008.

JR's project called "Women Are Heroes" depicts women whose relatives were the victims of clashes between police and drug traffickers.

Credit: Bruno Domingos/Reuters

French artist JR

A visitor looks at "Figure with Arms Crossed" (L) by Daniel Arsham of the U.S. next to "Inside Out sculpture #2" by French artist J.R. at Art Stage Singapore in Marina Bay Sands Convention and Exhibition center, January 23, 2013.

Credit: Edgar Su/Reuters

"Inside Out" by JR

Portraits of people are seen as part of the "Inside Out" art project by JR in the Xintiandi area in downtown Shanghai, May 14, 2014.

JR and his team set up a studio and printing equipment in a truck to capture portraits of locals and tourists, which were then displayed in public.

French artist JR in Hong Kong

"Face 2 Face" by JR

Giants portraits are posted on the facade of a building during a temporary exhibition by French photographer and street artist JR called "Face 2 Face" in Paris on November 17, 2007.

The project involved portraits of Israeli and Palestinians doing the same job and posting them face to face, in huge formats.

Credit: Benoit Tessier/Reuters

"Actions" by JR

A woman looks on as her photograph is printed at a public art installation by the artist JR called "Actions" on the Terrace at Somerset House in London, October 7, 2013.

Credit: Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters

"Dignity in Industry" by JR

Boats carry slum residents past photographs of garment workers taken by students of the Counter Foto photography department, by the waterfront of Korail slum in the Gulshan area of Dhaka, Bangladesh, September 13, 2013.

The photographs of garment workers are a celebration of the hardworking Bengali woman, in support of their struggle for socio-economic justice, and are part of the "Dignity in Industry" project by J.R.

Credit: Andrew Biraj/REUTERS

French artist JR

Photographs of garment workers taken by students of the Counter Foto photography department are seen covering stilt houses by the waterfront of Korail slum in the Gulshan area of Dhaka, September 13, 2013.

Credit: Andrew Biraj/Reuters

French artist JR

A boy has his black-and-white portrait taken to be exhibited on a street in the West Bank city of Ramallah on September 6, 2011, as part of a project by JR, who is visiting the Palestinian Territories and Israel.

The project, titled "Inside Out,"invites subjects to have their poster-size portraits printed and displayed in their communities.

Credit: Mohamad Torokman/Reuters

"Wrinkles Of The City" by JR

A cyclist passes by a creation by French artist J.R. in Berlin on April 19, 2013. The project, titled "Wrinkles Of The City" by the artist only known by his initials J.R., shows photographs on a number of murals in the German capital.

Credit: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters

"Women are Heroes" by JR

A river boat passes an illustration of a pair of eyes titled "Women are Heroes" on the banks of the Seine river during a temporary exhibition by JR in Paris on October 2, 2009. The project was dedicated to women in poor countries.

Credit: Charles Platiau/Reuters

"Inside Out" - French artist JR

Poster-size photographs of people taken by JR are seen pasted on the sidewalk for an art installation in New York City's Times Square, April 22, 2013.

JR's Times Square installation is part of his global project "Inside Out" which he launched in 2011.

Credit: Mike Segar/Reuters

French artist JR

A bird flies beside a creation by JR near the television tower in Berlin, April 19, 2013.

Credit: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters

French artist JR

A section of a photo is stuck to the ground next to the photobooth truck at the "Inside Out" project at Somerset House on October 7, 2013 in London.

Displaying at the Lazarides gallery and also on hoardings at a building site opposite the Old Bailey, the exhibition by JR comprised giant black and white images of members of the public who are photographed in a mobile studio mounted on the back of a small truck.

Credit: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

"Face2Face"

Palestinian Muslim cleric Sheikh Abdul Azziz Bukhari (R) reacts alongside French artist Marco as his poster portrait goes up on Israeli's separation barrier March 7, 2007, where it cuts the West Bank Palestinian town of Abu Dis off from Arab East Jerusalem.

The "Face2Face" project produces similar portraits of Palestinians and Israelis who do similar jobs, and then posts them alongside each other on both the Israeli and Palestinian side of the separation barrier.

Marco, one of the projects authors, and his partner French photographer JR, say they hope their project will contribute to a better understanding between Israelis and Palestinians.

Credit: David Silverman/Getty Images

French artist JR

People walk past one of the giant murals created by French artist J.R. for "Wrinkles of the City" in Berlin, April 19, 2013.

Credit: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters

French artist JR

People hold portraits of themselves taken as part of "Inside Out" art project by JR in the Xintiandi area of downtown Shanghai, May 14, 2014.

Credit: Carlos Barria/Reuters

French artist JR

Cuban-American artist Jose Parla jumps with a spray paint can to give his finishing touch to a creation in Havana for the upcoming 11th Biennial contemporary art exhibition, May 10, 2012.

The project "Wrinkles Of The City" combines French artist JR's photographs of elderly Cubans in the neighborhood with Parla's calligraphic messages, and are pasted on walls around the city.